Italian Job

 

Already having a glorious time in Vercelli - equidistant between Milan and Turin, should you wish to know - and have had a day of rehearsal with the strings of Camerata Ducale under the guidance of Maestro Guido Rimonda.... splendid. 
Today, the sun even came out.
An evening of  many composers including Tallis, Vaughan Williams, Warlock, Schubert, Holst, Walton, Dankworth, Lennon & McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Michel Legrand & Adele... wonderful mix, and very much looking forward to this evening... beautiful concert hall, and a large crowd expected...

Best of British:- from Balmoral to Bonheiden, BE

Our second shownight on the Balmoral (British night) went very well; the crowd suitably up for flag-waving and singalong classics.... and so it continues here in Belgium!
Two nights of Best of British in Bonheiden at the GC 't Blikveld - marvellous... another wonderful theatre in Belgium, great staff, great technicians, great food to eat... & a splendid full audience.

First night has gone off swimmingly - perhaps that adverb is too apropos as yesterday's fantastic midsummer weather has turned to drizzle and rain...

We are staying down the road at Mechelen, at Het Anker Brewery (there are bedrooms too)! I do hope other bookers are reading this & realise what a top idea it is for all our future dates... This place produces the best dark beer in the world... I think I shall have to taste quite a bit of it, just to make sure...

PS: It was good to leave the Balmoral to come home at Gibraltar on St George's Day in the glorious sunshine (with wind!)

Balmoral cabaret

Our first pair of shows has gone very well; we have lost our anonymity here on the Balmoral, a ship of the Fred Olsen line.
Wonderful hotel at Sharm el Sheikh, and then we boarded for a quick trip up the Red Sea towards the Suez canal, which we traversed in convoy, starting at 5am; two members of TLQ got up to watch this (not me!)...
Singing Caravan in the cabaret has never felt so apropos...
We had an excellent day exploring ancient and modern Alexandria... very enlightening.  We saw where the ancient lighthouse used to be (now the Citadel); did not see the new library... next time! (if only the ancient one had survived...
Lovely size of ship, great staff and an excellent atmosphere, despite these people having been on board for over 100 days already!
Next shows are tomorrow on British night.... altogether now...

Land of Hope and Glory,
Rain stops cricket at Lords,
Red buses and Shakespeare,
John, Paul, Ringo and George,
Tea and Monty Python,
Let's all join the queue,
God knows where we're going,
But we'll muddle through...

© Julian and Maggie Forsyth

Le Show in Fayance

Fabulous outing for Le Show in Fayance (just a bit west of Nice in the south of France)... despite BA's best/worst efforts.  Clearly bringing my manifestly obviously-labelled bag over to Nice airport was more than they could bear... and having failed thus there was no chance of its seeing France before our show.
Luckily my orange overalls were already in Fayance, but we had to share other costumes... which did rather cut down on costume changes!  So the two-tailed, two-tuxedoed quartet was born...
The good people of Fayance took this in their stride, although it did make Moise (the light guy) laugh!

Suzette Forever had its usual effect & much fun was had... and of course being in France, and under the auspices of Jean-Marie Gardon, there was much excellent food and drink (especially enjoyed the rosé)

(For those who wish to know, my bag is presently labelled online as en route to Nice by Monday am, which is nice, as I have been home for over 24 hours... hopefully on Monday they will see my emails and/or hear my calls suggesting their parentage is in doubt...)

On the flight home, we were joined by England manager, Roy Hodgson.. of course, we all had a long in-depth natter together about Rio!

Funny Side... in Solihull

Another funny night in England... this time in Solihull Arts Complex & with Chris Hatt on the piano...
Middle England needed laughs & we provided them...

Very appreciative audience in a splendid venue... with excellent and tremendously helpful backstage staff - thank you everyone...

They were especially amused by Jake Thackray's nun Sister Josephine... well, let's face it:- habemus Papam just half-an-hour before curtain up...

Funny Side... in Clacton

More mirth in the Princes Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea...
As ever, the Clacton Theatre was full to brimming & everyone to do with the organization was friendly and helpful... even making sure we got the last train home.
Joined last night by Paul Plummer on the piano (who had kindly allowed his one day off in the UK to be spent at the seaside with us!) we had a very fine evening.
They loved it all, from Jake Thackray to Monty Python & Noel Coward to Tim Minchin, via Instant Sunshine and Richard Stilgoe... On the Funny Side of the Street carries on creating jollity.

Excellent to visit such a thriving music society, with full membership and many sponsors...
Long may they continue...

Funny Side... in Wimborne

A splendid evening in Wimborne, Dorset (a stone's throw from the Minster in which I was married!) at the Tivoli Theatre...
Another outing for On the Funny Side of the Street, and much laughter echoed around the place!
An assassin, a spotty adolescent, a convict nun and a cross-dressing lumberjack were all in attendance... and that was just on stage!

More funny travelling to come....!